Ragda Pattice

Ragda Pattice is another street food that is an all-time favourite in our home.

It provides a nice change when we get bored eating the usual ghar ka khana like roti, subzi, dal-rice and miss the mumbai streetfood!

Ragda is the gravy that is made of whole yellow Peas.

And this gravy is poured over the Pattice that is made of potatoes.

And it is generally topped with a spicy Chutney.

For making the Ragda-

You need to soak the whole yellow peas that is 'white vatana' overnight.

In the morning rinse them in 2-3 changes of water and boil them in the cooker till they are soft but not mushy.

For 1 cup of white vatana I chopped-

2 onions, finely and pureed 2 tomatoes.

I also used-

2 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1 tsp jeera(cumin seeds)

1/4 tsp turmeric pwdr

1 tsp red chilly pwdr

salt to taste

1 tsp dhania pwdr
1/2 tsp jeera pwdr

1 tsp garam masala pwdr

Cilantro.

How to Proceed-

Heat oil in a pan and add jeera.

Then put finely chopped onions.

After the onions turn brown, add the pureed tomatoes.

Then add salt, turmeric, red chilly pwdr, dhania-jeera pwdr and roast well.

Then put in the boiled white vatana.

Roast for sometime and add the garam masala pwdr.

Again stir well and roast some more.

Add water to reach the desired consistensy.

Bring to a boil. And garnish with cilantro.

For making the Pattice-

I boiled 6 big potatoes and mashed them well.

Then I added 2 bread slices to this.

And I also added salt and cilantro.

And mixed them well. Then I made small balls of this potato mixture using hands and flattened them a little and shallow fried them in a non-stick pan using some oil.

For the Green Chutney-

Blend together-

1 bunch Cilantro

2 green chillies

juice of 1 lime

salt

little ginger and garlic

1/2 an onion.

To assemble-

Take a plate and place a few pattice first . Then pour the ragda over it and top it with the green chutney and chopped raw onions and enjoy!

Chole Puri

Chole Puri is a very popular dish in most of the North Indian homes.
It also happens to be one of the favourites in our home.
We eat chole i.e. white chick peas or Garbanzo beans or chana in various forms.
Sometimes I just boil the chickpeas and throw in some chopped raw onions, tomatoes, cilantro, salt, red chilli powder and some chaat masala and eat it for breakfast or as an evening snack.

At other times I cook them in a gravy form that is Chana masala and we have it with pav or sliced bread and chopped raw onions.

But at times when I am not much worried about the fat consumption, I serve it with Puris i.e. deep fried indian bread.

For making the Puris-

4 cups of All-purpose flour

2 tbsps Oil

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp of Ajwain

Water to knead the dough.

Oil for deep frying.

Method-

Mix the flour, salt, oil, ajwain and knead it into a dough using water.

And keep it aside for 1/2 an hour, covered with a damp cloth.

Then make small balls from the dough and roll them into small flat round shapes using dry flour if required.

Simultaneously, also keep oil for heating, for deep frying the Puris.

When the oil gets hot enough, drop the puris one by one. Fry them well on both sides turning once.

Tip-

Always fry the puris just before serving.

I usually roll out a few puris and keep and then fry them in batches.

For making the Chole-

1 cup dried chick peas

2 big onions, finely chopped

4 tomatoes, pureed

2 tsps ginger-garlic paste

1/2 tsp Jeera(cumin seeds)

1 green chilly chopped

1/2 tsp red chilly powder

1/2 tsp dry mango powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp chole masala powder(Everest or Badshah or whichever brand you like)

1 tsp Dhania(coriander) powder

1/2 tsp jeera powder(cumin powder)

salt to taste

Cilantro for garnishing.

2 tbsps Oil

Method-

Rinse the dried chick peas in 2-3 changes of water and soak them overnight.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add jeera.

Then add chopped onions, ginger-garlic paste, green chilly and saute till the onions turn brown.

Then put the pureed tomatoes, salt, turmeric, redchilly pwdr, dhania-jeera pwdr, dry mango pwdr and roast well till the oil seperates.

Then put in the chole sans water. But reserve the water for later use.

Add the chole masala and roast well.

Then put in the reserved water and close the lid of the cooker and give 5-6 whistles or till the chole is properly cooked.

Open the lid of the cooker when the pressure drops.

Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve with hot puris and onion tomato kachumber.

Onion Tomato Kachumber

Every Indian meal is always accompanied by a salad.

In its simplest form the salad can just be a sliced raw onion or wedges of cucumber.

Onion Tomato Kachumber is one such simple salad which can be made in a jiffy.

Ingredients-

1 onion

2 tomatoes

Cilantro

salt to taste

lemon juice (according to your taste)

cayenne pepper(depending on how hot you like)

Method-

Cut the onion and tomatoes into dices and put them together in a bowl.

Add salt, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and finely chopped cilantro.

Mix well and serve.

Simple Sprouts salad

Sprouts are something that I love to eat! Moong, Matki, vatana, chana....I like all of them in the sprouted form! And we all know the benefits of eating sprouts. They are such a great source of valuable nutrients. And moreover they are just so easy to make and eat too!

In this simple sprout salad I have just used the 2 of my favourite sprouts-moong i.e green gram and matki i.e moath sprouts.

I soaked 1/2 cup moong and 1/2 cup matki overnight in water.

In the morning I drained off all the water and put the soaked moong and matki in a sieve and kept it covered near the stove to sprout. Generally keep the seeds to sprout in a warm place. You can also keep them in the oven with the light on to speed up the sprouting process.

After they were sprouted, I steamed them for just 5 minutes in the cooker.

And took them out and added 1 cup of finely chopped celery, onion and cucumber.

Then I put in salt, black pepper powder,red chilly powder, cumin powder and chaat masala powder.

I also squeezed the juice of half a lime on them and garnished them with cilanrtro leaves on top.

This simple salad can be had as breakfast or as an accompaniment with the main course.

You can also use different types of sprouts in this salad.

You can also add green, yellow and red peppers and tomatoes in the salad.

And eat it right away!

Spinach Chicken

Chicken is an all-time favourite in our home. So I keep making it in various styles.

It is high in protein and low in fat and cholestrol compared to the other red meats.

To make Chicken even healthier, always remove the skin of the chicken before cooking. This will reduce the fat content by almost half. Also a good idea to trim off the excess fat from the chicken while washing it.

To avoid the use of fats while cooking chicken you can also bake, grill or roast chicken.

Spinach, on the other hand is a super-vegetable packed with important nutrients, that children love to hate! It is an excellent source of Iron and Vitamin A.

So when you combine Chicken with Spinach you get an exotic, healthy and delicious meal.

To make spinach chicken, you will need-

8 chicken drumsticks.

1 bunch fresh spinach.

4 tbsps of oil.

2 onions, finely chopped.

2 tbsps ginger-garlic paste.

1/2 cup thick curd.

Salt to taste.

1 tsp Red chilly powder.

1 tsp Garam masala.

How to Proceed

Chop the spinach leaves. wash and strain and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker.

Add ginger-garlic paste and stir for a minute.

Add onions and cook till they turn light brown.

Add chicken and roast till it turns golden brown and all the water evaporates.

Add salt and red chilly powder.

Add curd and stir.

Add the spinach and stir for 2 mins.

Add little water if required.

Close the lid of the cooker and pressure cook for 2 whistles or till the chicken is tender.

Remove from heat and let the pressure drop by itself.

Open the lid and add garam masala and roast well.

Serve hot with rotis or rice.